WAAAYTOOO

Hmmm...I guess I assumed (I know...) that the rules were the same for all of them. We use National.

Great google-moogly. Speak English, son ??

First of all, we are docked at the Port at the Naval Air Station, Key West. The last time I remember visiting KW, we docked right downtown. The super secret shuttle that was provided by the Concierge was a very nice trip down the elevator to the gangway and a trip to the front of the line to get off the ship. Then we walked a short distance to where there were a series of shuttle vehicles waiting to drive everyone to town. This service by the Concierge actually gave us quite an advantage as the line off the ship snaked waaay up the stairs to distances unknown. We walked straight off the ship without any wait at all. Our vehicles ended up being one of the conch trains. So, we rode the conch train into town along with a very nice guided tour by the driver. The ride was perfect - not too hot, not too windy, just right. To my utter shock, Lootenant Dayan (his other nickname) suggested that he had seen all of KW that interested him and perhaps we might consider simply remaining on the shuttle right back to the ship. Imagine my surprise! This is kind of suggestion that I would normally try and weasel into the conversation but it came out of HIS mouth. I was delighted ! So we did not detrain when the shuttle stopped. The “conductor” seemed not at all amused that we were hightailing it back to the ship without even getting off and his audible heavy sigh into the microphone (more like a groan) made us ?. So....we rode back the same path we had just come as the only conch train passengers. THIS is how the suites do it ! ?? Back on the ship in probably less than 30 minutes, we did what all good slugs do....eat. We wandered into the WJ; I had a burger and Lootenant Dayan had some kind of stewish-looking thing with rice. He had a chocolate ice cream cone and I had some Boston Cream Pie. Ahhhh....life is good. Could be we will try and see Spidee at 4:00. But for now - nap time !

I’m sure it’s something I’m doing.....

I couldn’t see ANYthing at all.

Thank you. It was an interesting day

Thank you !

When Royal first started RoyalUp, I imagined that it was in their best interest to sell all of the suites at their full “retail” price. It didn’t seem to make sense to me that they would hold suites back and then offer them as RoyalUp upgrades. Then I began to see how the program worked and now it makes sense for them to save some suites to use in their final RoyalUp lottery. It seems that Royal can make MORE money on the cascade of upgrades than they can by selling 1 suite at retail. If they are able to collect the upsell $$ from inside all the way to the high end suite, it is substantial and probably exceeds the price of a single suite at full retail price. That would seem to be even more lucrative on the bigger ships with many more categories, which may help to explain the MOST recent recategorization scheme. The more categories they can upgrade to, the more levels there are to the RoyalUp cascade. It’s all just a hunch. I have to real knowledge of how the program actually works.

Huh ? ??

As long as you can show a rental confirmation, they will shuttle you from the port to the airport to pick up your car.

For reason which I cannot explain, my iPad is again working now that we’re in port again. I know there is some super cyber reason that the internet when in port is different from the internet when you’re at sea, so my simplistic mind will simply accept that when on the ocean internet I will only be able to comm by cell phone. I am really HAPPY to be back on my iPad though ! Pecking along on the iphone is for people with better vision and skinnier fingers than me. So....thank goodness I listened to the voice message that Eliana left last night. If we go to the Concierge Club between 11:00 and 12:30 (it is currently 11:31) we will get a super-secret escort off the ship to some kind of trolley to take us to town. I am ALL about shuttle service, so we WILL be leaving shortly for the Concierge Club !

Oops. I see this is still here. I tried to move it but I guess that didn’t work. Sorry, Ashley. Rookie mistake

Sorry. I thought I had successfully moved this errant post. Ugh

Congratulations ! What an awesome upgrade. Enjoy the perks. They are incredible.

We are now pulling in to Key West. It really has been a long time since we visited KY and I feel certain that I refused to get off last time so it’s really been a LONG time since I was out and about on KW. I have agreed to debark on this trip so I must keep my word. No plans...just a walkabout. Maybe we’ll ride the HOHO trolley (I think there’s such a thing). Perfect weather. 76 and sunny. Yippee !!

And finally, the single thing about this class of ship that is truly unique...the Cinema ! I am so glad that Royal has not gotten rid of this feature on the Rad class ships. I fear for its future, but for now, IT LIVES ! It appears to show 1 film every 3 hours beginning at 10AM until 10PM. Kind of a nice option if you stay on the ship on port days (as I almost always do). I will check to see if the film changes daily. I feel sure it does

Another delightful space, directly across from the poker table, is the King and Country pub. THIS is the good ol’ dark and dingy pub venue we’re all familiar with....but it’s surprisingly large for this class of ship Since they were closed, I snuck in behind the bar to see what was on tap. Nothing interesting. Just Heineken

After breakfast, we did a wee walkabout. Now, wee is all of the walkabout you will ever get from me....I’m not a wanderer. If it doesn’t happen to be in the path between where I am and either a food venue or the casino, I’m likely to miss it. But here goes. I am not a wine drinker so I rarely venture into a Vintages, but I will say....the Vintages on Brilliance is beautiful, IMO. Rather than the dark and deserted space that it is in most ships, it is light (there are even windows ??). The lighting is very unusual. I found it a delightful space. Not delightful enough to go buy some wine that I don’t want, but lounge-worthy, for sure. The poker table is outside of the casino on a side trail leading out of the casino. I remember this very long and narrow configuration from my last Rad class sailing. No idea if they had a cash game going last night Frankly, we weren’t there long enough to really inquire

Well, I successfully posted the above to the wrong thread. Twice. I hope I fixed it but if I didn’t, my apologies to Ashley and IRMO12HD Ugh

Went to breakfast at Chops this morning and while it was better than lunch yesterday, we still had some downright cold food. The potato wedges (not that great even when they’re hot) were stone gold. Almost refrigerator cold. The orange juice was, no doubt, from a concentrate. We were never offered any sweet rolls even though they were sitting on a table 4 feet from us. Maybe we were supposed to help ourselves. We did not leave hungry. “It’ll make a turd”, one of Happy Dan’s favorite euphemisms. The service was also surprisingly sluggish which made no sense as we were 2 of 4 happy souls dining at the time. I know I sound like a bitcher, which I’m actually not.. but I will admit that as I get older, my tolerance for poor service has taken a nose dive. I will be in the “You kids get off my lawn !” Club very soon. Happy Dan is already a founding member. I overheard the only other customers in the place, discussing with our waiter, the fact that the breakfast serving staff in Chops are not dedicated Chops servers, but rather staff from Izumi, Giovannis and Chops that rotate to cover this special breakfast. I guess that makes sense. It also may explain the spotty service but it still sucks

Went to breakfast at Chops this morning and while it was better than lunch yesterday, we still had some downright cold food. The potato wedges (not that great even when they’re hot) were stone gold. Almost refrigerator cold. The orange juice was, no doubt, from a concentrate. We were never offered any sweet rolls even though they were sitting on a table 4 feet from us. Maybe we were supposed to help ourselves. We did not leave hungry. “It’ll make a turd”, one of Happy Dan’s favorite euphemisms. The service was also surprisingly sluggish which made no sense as we were 2 of 4 happy souls dining at the time. I know I sound like a bitcher, which I’m actually not.. but I will admit that as I get older, my tolerance for poor service has taken a nose dive. I will be in the “You kids get off my lawn !” Club very soon. Happy Dan is already a founding member. I overheard the only other customers in the place, discussing with our waiter, the fact that the breakfast serving staff in Chops are not dedicated Chops servers, but rather staff from Izumi, Giovannis and Chops that rotate to cover this special breakfast. I guess that makes sense. It also may explain the spotty service but it still sucks

Went to breakfast at Chops this morning and while it was better than lunch yesterday, we still had some downright cold food. The potato wedges (not that great even when they’re hot) were stone gold. Almost refrigerator cold. The orange juice was, no doubt, from a concentrate. We were never offered any sweet rolls even though they were sitting on a table 4 feet from us. Maybe we were supposed to help ourselves. We did not leave hungry. “It’ll make a turd”, one of Happy Dan’s favorite euphemisms. The service was also surprisingly sluggish which made no sense as we were 2 of 4 happy souls dining at the time. I know I sound like a bitcher, which I’m actually not.. but I will admit that as I get older, my tolerance for poor service has taken a nose dive. I will be in the “You kids get off my lawn !” Club very soon. Happy Dan is already a founding member. I overheard the only other customers in the place, discussing with our waiter, the fact that the breakfast serving staff in Chops are not dedicated Chops servers, but rather staff from Izumi, Giovannis and Chops that rotate to cover this special breakfast. I guess that makes sense. It also may explain the spotty service but it still sucks

Isn’t this old news ? I thought I read about this a few months ago. Maybe it was a different port...

Now you’ve made me cry. I’m not reading any more of your blogs

Thanks SO much for making me snort my morning cappuccino. I have been giggling ever since. Happy Dan thinks I’m nuts. Nothing new, I guess...